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by NotWhoYouThink131



Series: Little Hamilton [7]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Caregiver! Hercules, Caregiver! Lafayette, Diapers, Fluff, Hercules' Parents, John loves turtles God dangit, John throws a hissy fit, Non-Sexual Age Play, Zoo, bottles, little! John, non-binary Lafayette
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-10-10 02:31:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10427190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotWhoYouThink131/pseuds/NotWhoYouThink131
Summary: John has waited for this day forever. Well, I mean, not forever, it was only a few days, but that feels like forever to the little boy. He paces around near his suitcase, chewing on the skin around his finger in anticipation. He can sense a copper taste in his mouth, but he isn’t investigating it because he’s scared it will be blood.





	1. Chapter 1

John has waited for this day forever. Well, I mean, not forever, it was only a few days, but that feels like forever to the little boy. He paces around near his suitcase, chewing on the skin around his finger in anticipation. He can sense a copper taste in his mouth, but he isn’t investigating it because he’s scared it will be blood.

Lafayette brings the last of their bags out and sets them by the door. “You excited, little one?”

“Yeah!” John grins. “Wanna go see Mama!”

“Stop chewing on your finger, li’l man.” Hercules say when he appears from his bedroom. “That’s enough.” He pulls John’s finger from his mouth, inspecting the blood all over the boy’s hand. “Christ.”

“Sorry.” John says. “I’m excited.”

“Yeah, I know.” Hercules says. “But you don’t have to chew all your fingers off.” He pulls John into the bathroom and cleans up his finger with some toilet paper and a band-aid. Once he’s cleaned up, Hercules starts taking bags down to the car. While he does that, Lafayette buckles John into his seat.

“You ready to go see Mama~?” Lafayette hums.

“Yeah!” John claps his hands.

“My parents are gonna love you.” Hercules smiles, glancing at Lafayette.

“You think?” Lafayette grins.

“Yeah.” Hercules closes the trunk and puts an arm around Lafayette, kissing their face. “They’ll adore you.”

“Hercules!” The woman nearly flies off the porch and into her son’s arms, her feet a good foot or two off the ground. “You’re home!”

“Ma!” Hercules spins the small woman around before setting her on the ground. “I’m home! And I brought friends.”

“Hi!” John peek his head out the window. “Hi, Karen~!”

“Oh, hi John~!” Karen coos. “You’re looking much better than the last time I- Oh my God your head!” She races to his side and touches the scrape on his head. “What happened, baby?”

“I feel when I was ice skating.” John hums, fumbling with the seatbelt before actually getting out of the car. “Someone ran into me and I fell.”

“Oh, you poor thing.” Karen hums. “I’m sure Jane will want to take a look at-”

“Hercules!” Another woman, a little smaller than Karen, leaps off the porch and flies into Hercules arms, just as Karen had.

“Hey Mom.” Hercules laughs. “You know, you guys can actually wait until we’re in the house to say hello.”

“But we’re so happy to see you!” Jane grins. “We don’t want to wait for you to walk all the way in the house.”

“Hi, Mama!” John waves.

“Oh, John, my baby boy!” Jane almost literally has to climb down Hercules in order to wrap John into a hug. “How’s my baby boy been?”

“Good.” John giggles. “I hurt my head.” He points at the scrape.

“Oh, poor baby.” Jane pulls John down to her level and kisses the scrape. “It’s just itty bitty, though, it’ll be okay.” She keep cooing over John for a moment, adjusting part of his jacket.

“Ahem,” Hercules clears his throat and opens Lafayette’s car door. “Guys, this is Lafayette.” Hercules’ mothers both gasp softly as Lafayette climbs out of the truck, smiling shyly.

“H-Hello.” They say.

“Hey, hon,” Karen grins.

“Oh, Hercules,” Jane breathes. “They’re beautiful.”

“Told you.” Hercules smiles, putting an arm around Lafayette. “Aren’t they gorgeous?”

“It’s so great to finally meet you,” Karen says, taking Lafayette’s hand in both of hers, patting it gently. “Hercules has told us so much about you.”

“Really?” Lafayette blushes, looking back at Hercules. He grins and nods. “Well, I-I hope it’s been all good.”

“Oh, of course,” Jane smiles, petting John’s hair as he nuzzles into her (It looks rather silly since he’s almost a foot taller than her). “Hercules only has good things to say about anyone.”

“False,” Hercules says. “But we don’t talk about it.” He quickly leaves the situation, leaning into the truck and grabbing bags. “John, wanna help me grab these?”

“Yeah!” John climbs back into the truck and grabs his Little bag and Lafayette’s clunky suitcase (They insist on keeping this giant suitcase instead of getting a smaller one for lighter travel).

“Hercules, don’t make that baby do any of that!” Jane scolds. “He should go inside.”

“Ma, he’s fine.” Hercules snorts.

“I’m just saying,” Jane says. “You’re the one who said we were supposed to treat him like a three year old. Three year olds don’t carry bags inside.” She takes John’s Little bag. “Is this yours, honey?”

“Yeah!” John grins and sets Lafayette’s bag down in front of them. “Here, Gilly.”

“Merci, John.” Lafayette grins.

“Come on,” Jane says. “Let’s head inside.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update took so long to come out, some personal stuff has left me fucked up this week and it's taken me a while to get the time to write.  
> With that being said, I'm going to post the next short story in this series while I'm still in the process of writing this one, just because I need to get more ideas out quicker. Whee.

The guest bedroom has been done up just for John. The walls are an ocean blue color with turtle shells delicately painted around the borders. There are a few stuffed animals on the bed- All turtles, of course- and the comforter that has been laid out is covered in turtles and dolphins. When John walks in, Jane behind him, his eyes widen and his voice is nearly stolen from him. “Oh, my…”  
“Sorry about the dolphins.” Jane says as she helps John put his suitcase down, resting the diaper bag on top of it. “There wasn’t one that was just plain turtles.”  
“That’s fine,” John grins, shaking his head dismissively. “Did you guys paint all this for me?” His smile is wide, his eyes glistening in amazement. His bandaged finger trails along the smooth wall absently.  
“Mm-hm,” Jane nods. “Hercules told us you really wanted turtles, so we did the room up just for you.” She boops his nose, and he giggles. “We hope you like it, sweetie.”  
“S-So, Herc told you about… This.” John gestures to his diaper bag.  
“Yeah,” Jane nods. “Is that alright?”  
“Yeah,” John says quietly. “You’re being very nice about it, is all.”  
“Well, did you expect me to be mean to you?” She pauses and a frown creeps onto her small delicately wrinkled features. “Are people mean to you?”  
“N-No,” John says. “No one really knows about me except for you guys, but… Most people aren’t treated nicely outside their D-Daddies.” He remembers how terrified he had been when Herc and Gilly found out, how sure he was that he was going to be kicked out of the apartment for being such a weirdo. The fact that Herc and Gilly embraced him instead of isolating him took him by surprise. He knew Herc and Gilly were accepting people, but everyone has their lines. He thought Mama was going to be that way, too.  
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that here.” Jane puts an arm around John and nuzzles him. “You’re safe here.”  
“Ma, is John up there with you?” Hercules calls up the stairs.  
“Yeah, we’re coming down!” Jane calls down. “Come on, love.” She takes John’s hand in hers, and John grins. Her hands are always so soft and smooth, the gentle hands of a former model.   
John thinks about his own fingers, bandaged and bloody, the skin torn apart and sensitive, and he feels almost embarrassed. His fingers start to itch and, without any thought, his brings her fingers to his mouth and starts nibbling.  
“Hey, hey.” Jane giggles, pulling her hand from his mouth. “No chewing.”  
“S-Sorry,” John squeaks quickly, letting go of her hand. “I’m sorry.”  
“Oh, honey shh,” Jane pats his back. “Don’t get upset, you’re okay.” She releases his hand for a moment and disappears back into his room, reappearing a moment later with John’s blue binky in her hand. “Is this what you need, honey?”  
John nods and opens his mouth. When she places the binky on his waiting lips, they enclose around the rubber nipple and the itch in his fingers relax. He smiles and coos softly, leaning into Jane.  
Jane leads him back downstairs and they both find Karen is fidgeting around with Lafayette’s bold red skirt in the living room as Hercules stands by the stairs, watching. “Karen, leave that child alone!” She laughs.  
“Hercules made this skirt~” Karen coos. “Isn’t it so pretty~?”  
“Ma, stop~” Hercules groans. “You’re doing the thing again.”  
“What thing?” Karen pouts.  
“The thing where you do the ‘White Suburban Mom’ thing and coo and squeal over my work like it’s a child.”  
“I’m just so happy that you decided to pick up tailoring,” Karen smiles. “I remember you used to spend hours in my workshop, looking at the clothes I made and trying to recreate them.” She looks up at Lafayette, who is smiling politely. “And they seem to be happy about it, too.”  
“Well, of course,” Lafayette smiles. “Hercules helped me unlock a certain creativity in myself, and that helped me become more comfortable with who I am.” They peek at Hercules and grins.  
Hercules chuckles and shakes his head. “You guys are all somethin’ else, I swear.”  
“Oh, don’t act like you’re the normal one,” Jane snorts, punching Hercules’ arm.  
“I never said I was the normal one,” Hercules says. “I’m just saying you’re all somethin’ else.”  
While they continue talking, John slowly wanders away from them and makes his way to the kitchen. He sees that Jane is eyeing him, making sure he’s not anywhere he shouldn’t be, and he smiles softly at her. He goes to the kitchen and starts digging around in the cabinets.  
“You hungry, li’l man?” Hercules says. John shakes his head. “Well, alright. If you say so.” He keeps watching John for a moment, assuming the child is actually looking for something. After a moment, John manages to find and open the fridge, pulling out a gallon of milk. “John,” Hercules says. “Come on, li’l man, I can make you a bottle.”  
“No,” John shakes his head again, getting a cup from the cabinet above the sink. “I got it.”  
“John-John~” Lafayette moves quickly and slips the glass mug from the boy’s hands. “Little one, why don’t I get you a bottle?”  
“No, I wan’ a big boy cup!” John pouts, his binky puffing out when he out-turns his lip.  
“I know honey, but you’re too little for a big boy cup,” Lafayette says. “So let’s go get your bottle.” They quickly sweep John back upstairs to get his bottle, and return in just a few minutes.  
While Lafayette speeds back off to the kitchen with John at his heels, Jane glances over her shoulder at Hercules. “John’s so cute,” She says.  
“Glad you think so,” Hercules says. “He hoped you’d like him.”  
“Of course we’d like him,” Karen smiles, placing an arm around Jane. “John’s one of our favorite boys you’ve brought home yet.”  
“Guys, I already told you-”  
“We know, we know.” Jane snorts. “You’re just friends. You’ve only been just friends.” The woman has a mischievous glint in her eyes as she curls her lips into a Cheshire smile. “We still like that you brought him home.”  
“Lafayette’s a treat, too.” Karen chimes. “They’re so open and friendly.”  
“Yeah, Lafayette’s all about being friendly.” Hercules grins. “They wanted your approval more than anything today.”  
“Well, they’ve certainly got it,” Jane giggles.  
“There we go!” Lafayette grins, tugging John along. John is suckling on his bottle, eyes glazy but awake. “Warm bottle for this little one~”  
“Thanks,” Hercules pats John’s head. “Why don’t you go play in the living room, li’l man?”  
“You can turn on cartoons,” Karen leans up and kisses the boy’s cheek. He giggles and hides his face, going to the living room. After a moment, everyone hears the TV start playing something.  
“So how long has he been like this?” Jane says. “Does it just come in waves, or does he plan it?”  
“It could be both.” Hercules says. “When we found him the first time, he was just kind of scared into his headspace by accident, but every time after that has been kinda planned.”  
“Does it wear off?” Jane asks.  
“Sort of?” Lafayette answers. “If he takes a nap, he normally wakes up out of headspace, but sometimes he can lull himself back into being Big.”  
“How does it work?” Karen asks.  
“I’m not exactly sure,” Hercules says. “How I always handle it is treating John and Little John like two different people, ‘cause he usually doesn’t talk about one if he’s the other. I just assume it’s kind of like one mental state is a trance that the other one doesn’t remember and shit like that.”  
“That sounds easy enough.” Karen says.  
“You guys are being very open to all this,” Hercules chuckles. “I dropped a lot of shit on y’all today.”  
“We’ve always been accepting people, Hercules,” Jane smiles, peeking in at John. He is snuggled into the couch, still working on his bottle, watching a TV show Jane cannot identify. “It takes a lot more than all this to surprise us.”  
“Well, I’m glad.” Hercules says. “Cause he’s probably going to be like this when you guys go to the aquarium tomorrow.”  
“That’s just fine,” Karen grins. “We’ll be happy to let him run around for a while.”  
“I do have one question, though.” Jane says.  
“Go on,” Hercules says.  
“When I was going through his bag, I saw that there were diapers in there.” Jane peeks at John again. “I’m assuming he needs those?”  
“Not all the time,” Lafayette says. “But it’s usually for the better if he wears them. Since he’s only three, potty-training is kind of swing-and-miss with him.”  
“Alright,” Jane nods. “I’ll remember to take some with me tomorrow in case he needs them.”  
A burp comes from the next room, and Hercules chuckles. “All done, li’l man?”  
“Yeah!” John smiles. He tosses his bottle in the air and laughs when Jane catches it.  
“Look at you, drinking all your milk like a big boy!” Jane kisses his head and the boy erupts into a new round of giggles, kicking his feet. “You’re so precious~!”  
“No, stop~!” John giggles.  
“But John~ Honey~” Jane grins. “You’re such a cutie.”  
“You know,” Hercules whispers to Karen. “Whenever he talks about you guys- When he’s Little- he calls you two ‘Mama’.”  
“Does he really?” Karen gasps.  
“Yeah, he always has.” Lafayette giggles. “He really likes you guys.”  
“Always has.” Hercules agrees.


	3. Chapter 3

After two hours of fussing with a very cranky baby, Jane finally gets John to wake up.

“Oh, fussy baby~” Jane coos as she pulls John so he is sitting up. His hair is tangled messily around his face, and his eyes are blinking slowly to adjust to the light. “We gotta get you ready to go to the aquarium, huh?”

John grumbles softly under his breath and rubs his eyes. “Wanna keep sleeping.” He says softly.

“I know honey,” Jane coos. “You stayed up so late playing with the grown-ups~ But we gotta wake up if we’re gonna get there with enough time to see all your favorite animals~”

“Come on, li’l man.” Hercules says from the doorway. “Let’s get dressed.”

John groans and gets out of bed with a pouty huff. He feels something fall out of the bed beside him, and he looks down to see his stuffed turtle looking up at him. “Hm,” John says, picking it up. “Shelby, you gotta get back in bed.” He tucks her back into the bed as Jane goes to leave. “Mama?”

“I assumed you’d want to get dressed,” Jane says. “Unless you need help?”

“I can get him dressed, Ma.” Hercules says. “You go finish breakfast.” Once Jane leaves the room, Hercules smiles at John. “Hey li’l man.”

“Hi,” John coos.

“You excited?” Hercules asks.

“I’m tired,” John says, grabbing his diaper bag and setting it on the bed, flopping down next to it.

“Hey, let’s go potty first.” Hercules says. “That way, I can get a fresh pull-up on you.”

John nods and sits up, walking to the bathroom. He sits down on the toilet and kicks off his pants. He has Hercules help him get his shirt off and waits patiently as Hercules starts to dress him “Are we all going to the aquarium?” He asks.

“Not all of us.” Hercules says “It’s just gonna be you and Mama Jane today. The rest of us are staying here. Gilly and I have some errands to run.”

“What about Mama Karen?” John asks.

“She’s got work today, honey.” Hercules says. John gets up and Hercules starts getting him ready, securing a diaper around his waist before pulling on the rest of his clothes. Once he’s done with that, he takes John back to the room and lays him down on the bed again while he starts packing the diaper bag for the day. “Now, you gotta make sure to tell Mama when you have an accident, okay? We don't want you getting a rash.”

“I know, I know.” John whines, kicking his feet when Hercules tries to put socks on him.

“Li'l man, stay still.” Hercules groans, finally getting his socks on him “You little turd.”

John giggles, shoving one of Shelby’s feet in his mouth. Hercules hoists John up onto his hip and carries him downstairs “Food~!”

“That’s right, mon petite.” Lafayette coos “We got some little treats for you.” When Hercules sets him in his chair, Lafayette hands him a small bowl with pieces of dry cereal in it. John starts picking at the food, popping them in his mouth.

“He’s all dressed and ready to go?” Jane asks from across the table.

“Yep.” Hercules nods “He’s all set. I finished putting together his bag for him, so all you gotta do is go get it.”

“Great.” Jane says. She pets John’s hair and chuckles “Someone’s gotta do your hair, baby. It’s all ratty.” John grunts as she pulls his hair tie out and starts combing through his hair with her thin fingers “Can someone grab a hairbrush for me?”

“Got it.” Lafayette reaches for their purse and pulls out a hairbrush, which Jane takes and starts brushing John’s hair back into a ponytail. “There’s that handsome face.”

John smiles at the praise and continues eating, trying not to be bother by his head being moved around in an attempt to calm his curly hair. Once his hair is pulled back and free from his face, he can eat quietly while Jane goes to get his diaper bag.

“I hope you have fun today, sweetie.” Lafayette grins. John grunts and nods. “We’re going to the store today, do you want us to get you anything?”

“I want some more of my snacks.” John says, gently tapping the bowl on the table. “I’m out of my strawberry puffs and fishy crackers.”

“Okay, so we can buy snacks,” Hercules says. “Do you need juice?”

“Yeah.” John nods.

“Snacks, juice.” Hercules mumbles, adding to a list on his phone. “Do you need anything else?”

“No,” John shakes his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Okay.” Jane comes down stairs and sets the diaper bag on the counter “All set to go.”

“Okay, wait a minute.” Lafayette rolls their eyes. They start taking things out of the diaper bag and setting them on the counter. “Hercules, you are not letting your mother and John walk around all day with this silly looking bag. They both look too grown for this.” Once the bag is empty, Lafayette flips it inside-out, revealing a brown book bag with neutral green and blue polka dots. They start repacking the bag hastily. “You know they need the other bag.”

“Honestly, my mom coulda got away with it.” Hercules shrugs. “No one would’ve questioned it.”

“Still.” Lafayette says. “John would kill us if we let him walk around with that in public.”

“Yeah.” Hercules says. “Guess you’re right.”

“Ready to go, baby?” Jane says, petting John’s hair.

“Yeah!” John grins. Now that he’s eaten, he is much more awake. His smile is a lot brighter and he seems to bounce in his seat a lot more now that he’s had time to let the adrenaline sink in. Now his mind races with the thought of walking around the aquarium with Mama, holding her hand and following her as she leads him to the many animals he has grown to love. He feels his fingers itching at the notion of seeing a turtle. He might even get to pet one! He feels his fingers start towards his mouth in excitement, but a binky is popped into his mouth before they reach their destination.

“Let’s get you in the car,” Jane coos. She lifts John to his feet and holds his hand, leading him to the car. He peeks back over his shoulder and sees Herc and Gilly still at the kitchen table, fussing over their grocery list.

John gets in the car and Jane starts strapping him in, smiling at him. “You’re so adorable.”

John swings his legs, giggling. “Mama, no~!” He hums, clutching his small stuffed turtle to his chest. Jane gets in the car and they start driving.

During the drive, they play a few car games (John loves I-Spy, Jane found out) and even started talking a bit about school. While little John didn’t have much to say about his big boy school, he was able to tell Jane enough that she understood how he was doing.

Jane knows that John is usually so proud of his ability to keep up with schoolwork, but lately, it seems John has been struggling. Most of this, she pieces together, is probably due to the fact that John has been working to get into the medical program he moved all the way from South Carolina to get into. He is short a few credit hours and needs to make them up quickly in order to get in next semester, and he has been working nonstop since the fall semester ended to prepare himself for the spring.

“And- And when I get back home,” John says. “I gotta finish a big report!”

“What’s the report over, honey?” Jane hums.

“I dunno,” John giggles. “There’s too many big words for me!”

“Okay, that’s fair.” Jane giggles. “Remind me when you get big again to ask what the report is over.”

“Okay!” John bounces in his seat, looking out the window. He can see the edge of the zoo from the highway, and his stomach flutters with excitement. He knows that that’s where the aquarium is, and he knows that’s where he’ll see all his favorite animals.

The car gets off the highway and circles back around to the zoo entrance. John tries to contain himself while Mama is talking to the admission guy, but he finds his fingers twitching and picking at dead skin along his nails instead. He struggles to keep his fingers out of his mouth while he has his binky hidden. Mama gets the tickets and she parks the car, John back to his bouncing self.

“Aquarium~!” John sings while they get out of the car. “Aquarium~!”

“Yep~” Jane sings back, giggling. “Come on, John, take my hand.” Johns hand easily intertwines with hers and she leads him inside. Once they’re on the grounds, the atmosphere changes; kids are running around and screaming, being chased by parents, the air smells like animals and cotton candy. Jane remembers the first time she brought Hercules here, and how excited he was to see the giraffes. “So, what do you want to see first, hon?”

“Turtles!” John squeals.

“Okay, then,” Jane grins. “To the turtles!”


End file.
